After sprinting for their lives, the group finally stopped, gasping for air.
Wu Qing, still pale with fear, was the first to recover. He glared at Chen An, his tone filled with accusation:
"So, you've been hiding your strength all this time! And to think, Guo Feng and I trusted you!"
"Trusted me?" Chen An sneered, a mocking smile spreading across his face. "You mean you were planning to use me as a scapegoat? What, it's fine for you to set me up, but I can't do the same to you?"
"Enough nonsense!" Wu Qing barked, his tone sharp as he cut Chen An off. "Guo Feng is dead now, and I won't let this slide!"
Wu Qing had never been a man of loyalty or principles. When Guo Feng was alive, he would call him "big brother" at every opportunity, but now that he was dead, Wu Qing didn't even bother to honor his memory with respect. This abrupt change in attitude exposed Wu Qing's true nature.
Of course, his outrage wasn't about avenging Guo Feng—it was an excuse to size up Chen An and see if there were any benefits he could squeeze out of this situation.
Unfortunately for Wu Qing, even if he could claim any spoils, he wouldn't live long enough to enjoy them.
"If I were you," Chen An said coldly, "the last thing I'd worry about right now is Guo Feng. You should be more concerned about yourself."
Wu Qing froze, a sense of dread creeping over him. His instincts screamed danger, and he began to glance around nervously.
But it was too late.
He felt a cold blade press against his throat, and before he could react, warm blood gushed out. Shocked, he turned his head, only to see the scrawny figure of Xiaodao calmly wiping her bloodstained dagger.
"You… you…" Wu Qing stammered, clutching at his throat as if trying to hold the life pouring out of him. But no words came. His body crumpled to the ground, lifeless.
Chen An stood quietly to the side, watching Xiaodao loot Wu Qing's corpse with practiced efficiency. He couldn't help but feel a strange sense of familiarity.
From her cautious demeanor to her sudden, ruthless strikes, Xiaodao reminded him of himself.
For a moment, Chen An even considered asking if she, like him, had grown up among bandits.
"I'm sure you have a lot of questions," Xiaodao said, glancing at Chen An as she finished stripping Wu Qing of his valuables. "But we don't have time for small talk. We've got bigger problems."
Chen An raised an eyebrow in curiosity, but before he could ask what she meant, distant footsteps and murmurs reached his ears. A group of cultivators was approaching—and from their conversation, it seemed they were also after the Hundred-Eyed Giant Toad!
Exchanging a glance, Chen An and Xiaodao moved wordlessly into position. Xiaodao leaped up onto a withered tree branch, her movements as light as a cat's. Meanwhile, Chen An concealed himself in a nearby thicket, holding his breath and waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
"Big brother, the Hundred-Eyed Giant Toad is a second-tier beast. There's no way we can take it down. Our task is just to pinpoint its location for the Zhao family. We can't afford to act rashly," one of the approaching cultivators said nervously.
"Relax, Third Brother. I know how dangerous a second-tier beast is. Once we…"
The man's words cut off abruptly as his nose caught the faint, metallic scent of blood. His eyes darted around, and soon they landed on Wu Qing's lifeless body up ahead.
Before he could shout a warning, a shadow descended from above.
"Shk!"
A dagger plunged into his throat, blood spraying everywhere.
The ambush had begun.
Panic broke out among the remaining cultivators, but before they could regroup, a flurry of ice shards rained down from all sides, followed by Chen An's sudden charge from the underbrush.
The hunt was on.
---
"Drip… drip…"
Blood trickled from Xiaodao's dagger, its once-shining blade now slick with crimson. Leaning against a withered tree, her chest heaved with exhaustion, her face pale as paper.
Chen An stood on the other side of the same tree, similarly spent. Though neither bore any obvious wounds, the sheer number of enemies they had faced had drained them of their energy.
All around them lay the bodies of their foes, dozens in total. After dispatching the first group of cultivators, they encountered several more teams, each more formidable than the last.
The most dangerous was a late-stage Qi Condensation cultivator, whose strength had nearly overwhelmed them. Were it not for their uncanny teamwork and mutual understanding, they would have perished.
Chen An's gaze dropped to the gourd hanging from his waist. Killing so many cultivators had filled it with spiritual liquid—half full, by his estimation. He couldn't help but grin.
The spiritual liquid from cultivators was far more potent than that from ordinary mortals. It was this same liquid, gained from killing Wei Ming, that had propelled Chen An onto the path of cultivation.
With so much spiritual liquid at his disposal, Chen An now felt as though he had an extra life up his sleeve. How could he not be ecstatic?
After a brief rest, Chen An and Xiaodao began looting the battlefield, collecting every valuable item they could find.
Unlike the tense battle moments earlier, the two now worked in high spirits, smiles spreading across their faces as they uncovered treasures.
Their expressions seemed to say:
"We've hit the jackpot!"
It took nearly half an hour to finish collecting their spoils. Once done, Chen An turned to Xiaodao, his curiosity finally getting the better of him.
"You and these people all came to the Poison Swamp for a reason. What's your goal?"
Xiaodao hesitated for a moment, her lips pressing into a thin line. Finally, she glanced at Chen An and asked,
"Have you heard of the Zhao family from Xixia City?"